Sports
Tornadoes Stave Off Fierce Trimble Rally
By: Tee Willis
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Wednesday night’s matchup between the Trimble Tomcats and the Tornadoes of Southern High was nothing short of entertaining as the Tornadoes prevailed 75-65.
Southern (7-5, 6-3 TVC-Hocking), celebrating its 100th season of boys basketball, kicked off the night by honoring past historic teams and welcoming players and coaches from the early and late 80s.
Trimble Head Coach Howie Caldwell and Southern Head Coach Jeff Caldwell were both apart of the history as Howie Caldwell was a former coach and Jeff Caldwell was a part of the district championship winning team in 1982.
From tip off, the Tornadoes were quick to score and jumped out to a very early lead. Trimble’s offense was slow to get going and it was evident in the score as the Tomcats were down by 13 after the first quarter.
The Tornadoes had tremendous shooting and ball movement, leading to an impressive 8 three pointers made.
Southern was able to beat Trimble (7-4, 7-1 TVC-Hocking) on the glass and force turnovers to get the ball out in transition and run up the score.
Southern’s Brayden Cunningham showed versatility for his team. His 6’4 frame allowed him to shoot over defenders, grab rebounds and lock down the Trimble offense.
Cunningham finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds and a block. Teammate Trey McNickle helped carry the load as he added 8 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists to the game.
While Southern’s offense flourished, Trimble had a tough shooting night. As a team, the Tomcats shot 4-19 from behind the 3-point line.
At one point in the third quarter, Trimble was down by nearly 25 points. While it looked almost undoubtbly over for the Tomcats, Randy Hixson would not let his team go down without a fight.
Hixson carried the team the rest of the way, finishing with 33 points and bringing the score within 7 points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
It looked like the Tomcats would mount one of the best comebacks of the season, but big problems came in a late game situation.
In the last two minutes of play, Trimble missed five crucial free throws that could’ve brought the game within one basket.
Trimble tried to foul to extend the game and try for a few last shots, but the Tornadoes were able to withstand the pressure and finish the game 75-65.
The Tomcats came up short, but will have to try to put this game out of their memory quickly as they will play their second road game of the week against divisional rival Belpre.